This weekend started early, with a Friday afternoon Geekcorps meeting by the pool (the boss is in Timbuktu, after all!) then the rest of it flew by.

Saturday I did commissary-related work all day: Writing my resignation memo, writing a detailed to-do list for my replacement, writing recommendations for the Board.

At 4:30 I walked over to Sup Management, a business school just a block from our house. My old French/Bambara tutor Youchaou had invited me to join a meeting of the English Club International. He is Secretary General of the Bamako chapter.

It wasn't a General Assembly -- they have about 300 members -- but a meeting of the Planning Committee. The group was mostly young people, students and professionals; their level of English skill varied widely but they were all enthusiastic. The entire meeting was conducted in English. At a couple points I was reminded that I live in an extremely poor country: For instance, when the president asked everyone to print their own copy of the agenda for future meetings because the Club can't afford to print copies for everyone. Later, the issue of membership fees was raised. They are CFA 1000/month (about $2.00). The students asked if there could be a special rate for them, because they can't afford CFA 1000. The committee agreed to halve the student rate to CFA 500.

The Planning Committee reviewed the ambitious action plan that Youchaou had drawn up. They want to have guest lecturers, provide translation services, organize social events, sell T-shirts, and more. They also want to have a website, which is the main reason I was invited.

Saturday night we went to dinner at L'Olympien, a place that reminds me of my first visit to Mali, when we ate there often. It's a popular place for expats. We bumped into some of the Caddell Construction guys who are building the new American Embassy. I know them from the commissary, and my Dutch friend at the gym is one of the nurses at the building site. Bamako is a city of a million people but it's like a small town; you can't go anywhere without seeing someone you know.

This morning we both worked in the living room. (This is a habit I really want to break -- working every day -- but first I have to finish up at the commissary.)

After lunch we shut down our laptops and drove to the Musee National to see an exhibit of contemporary African art. The museum grounds are really pleasant, quiet and far enough away from major roads to have nice clean air. This being the dry season, the grounds were mostly brown.

Except for the watered island in the middle, which was a shocking green.

Our favorite works were the sculptures of Siriki Ky (see below). I also liked the paintings of Tamsir Dia, the sculpture "Communion des habitants du vide" by Ludovic Fadairo, and the broken and some new ceramic works -- broken and misshapen pots -- produced by Dogon artist Amahigure Dolo. Some of Abdoulaye Konate's cloth work was interesting but I didn't care for the large "Gris gris pour Israel et le Palestine."

It was so refreshing to see art! When we lived in Washington we would go to museums or galleries at least every other weekend, and soak it up until we were totally saturated. I've been so thirsty for art.